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The benefits of your teams making the finals are not only the continued excitement that it brings for the club, the team and the fans.
At a personal player level it helps them reach and pass milestones that they would otherwise have to wait for another season to achieve, so whether they manage to get one, two, three or even four extra games it will help those elite players already in the clubs’ top 100 game players or goal scorers move further up the list, and some of those outside the top 100 improve their chances of one day making it.
Melbourne’s Tom McDonald is a prime example, making both top 100 games played and top 100 goals scored lists during the season and continuing to power up them week by week.
Needing only one game at the start of the year to join the games played list, he didn’t appear until Round 6 but since then has played every game. Last week’s elimination final was his 144th game and that took him past Matthew Febey and into the top two-thirds of the Demons’ top 100 game players.
His one goal was significant as well, as it took him to level with 1950s and 1960s ruckman John Lord and now Collingwood player Jeremy Howe.
Nathan Jones’ one goal was also significant. It was not only another nail in Geelong’s coffin but took him past Colin Sylvia, current teammate Jeff Garlett and Geoff Tunbridge and to level with the club’s late and great Irishman Jim Stynes. Max Gawn kicked his 50th goal.
The Demons’ other top 100 game player (new this year) Neville Jetta also got into the act, passing Colin McLean and Brownlow Medallist Shane Woewodin and equalling current Hawthorn player James Frawley number of games for Melbourne.
All these players get to do it again this week, but for Geelong, one extra game only was the prize. Tom Hawkins got to equal George Todd, Gary Ablett got to pass Camron Mooney, Mitch Duncan got to equal Teddy Rankin and Joe Sellwood and Cameron Guthrie got to equal Ron Hovey.
Mark Blicavs, who only joined the list in the final home and away game, moved up a few notches to equal Terry Farman.
Of course, the Melbourne-Geelong match was between the first two clubs to play the game. For the youngest club, Greater Western Sydney, every player still makes it onto the list and improves his game tally, but at Sydney and Collingwood, only a total of three players impacted their position within the top 100.
For Sydney, captain Josh Kennedy passed David McLeish and Dane Rampe passed Ron Hillis and Craig Bird to equal David Ackerly. At Collingwood, Steele Sidebottom drew level with former captain Nick Maxwell and – whilst it did not change his position on the list – Tyson Goldsack’s come back game was full of merit.
Tom Papley’s two goals gave him a good boost. He passed Robert Dean, Bobby Allison and Don Keyter to draw level with Craig Braddy, who only played for four years between 1982 and 1985.
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